This study examines the German-American cultural transfer during the 18th and 19th centuries and its important part in the formation of an American national and cultural identity. The different chapters treat specific problems and criticize existing translation theories. In the concluding chapters a cohesive view of the entire process emerges.

This collection of essays attempts a critical reassessment of a wide range of often competing forms of internationalizing the discipline of American Studies – including trans- and post-national, international, (trans-)Atlantic, (trans-)Pacific, as well as hemispheric, trans-border, in-ter-American and comparative American Studies.